Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – Data storage or retrieval
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-28
2003-12-02
Walberg, Teresa (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
Data storage or retrieval
C463S001000, C463S007000, C463S008000, C463S009000, C463S036000, C463S037000, C463S044000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06656051
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game control device for correcting an image (map) representing the contents of displayed objects on a background image and data such as characters placed on the map, and an information recording medium and game control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
The home video game apparatus has become commonplace in recent years, and video games played on such game apparatuses are now representative of easily-enjoyed entertainment, particularly with the younger generations. Various genres of games are being provided to the market, such as sports, fighting, dancing, and so forth. Particularly popular are RPGs (Role Playing Games) wherein a character operated by a player (hereafter referred to as “main character”) moves through a virtual world, talking or fighting with other characters when specified conditions are satisfied, thereby causing the character to grow through these events, or simulating real-life wars, fights, human interaction, and so forth.
RPGs often involve the player operating an input device such as a controller, playing out the role of the main character by providing instructions to the main character, and thus progressing toward a provided target while experiencing adventure-like simulations.
With such RPGs, an image representing the entire world in the RPG (hereafter referred to as “world map”) is displayed on the screen as a background image at the beginning of the game. The world map has images representing multiple destinations (hereafter referred to as “land”) such as structures positioned at certain locations on the world map, and once the main character operated by the player reaches the land, the displayed background image is switched to an image (hereafter referred to as “field map”) representing the inside of the structure represented by the land image.
Enemy characters, such as monsters and witches, are placed within the field map, and fighting commences in the event that the distance between the main character and the enemy character is less than a predetermined distance. The data to be set for enemy characters, such as bitmap, endurance, attack force, defense, etc., is stored in a CD-ROM beforehand, and the game apparatus reads out these definitions as appropriate from the CD-ROM and makes display thereof, thus carrying out fighting.
However, in the above arrangement, the data definitions of the enemy characters such as endurance, the place and type of enemy character to appear within the field map, and the position of the land placed within the world map, are all predetermined. Thus, when the player plays the same game the second time and subsequent times, the player experiences the same land layout and the same enemy character appearances. This has been a problem causing the player to lose interest in the game.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in light of the above, and accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a game progression control method, a recording medium recording game progression programs, and a game apparatus, wherein events occurring in the course of game progression can be changed according to arbitrary settings made by the player.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a game progression control method for a video game is arranged such that items indicating positions of generation of events are placed within a map in which characters can be moved, in response to operation input; positional information of the position where an item was positioned within the map is stored each time an item is positioned; the character is moved within the map in response to operation input; in the event that the character moves to a position within the map where an item is positioned, the contents of an event to occur at the position to which the character has moved are determined according to the item obtained from the stored positional information and the positional relation with other items; and said determined event progresses.
With the first aspect of the present invention, items indicating the position where an event is to occur are placed in response to operation input, and the contents of an event to occur at the position of the item are determined according to the position of placement, so the contents of the event depend on where the player places the position for event generation.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable storage medium has programs for controlling game progression of the video game recorded therein, wherein the programs cause a computer to perform the following: placing items indicating positions of generation of events within a map in which characters can be moved, in response to operation input; storing positional information of the position where an item was positioned within the map each time an item is positioned; moving the character within the map in response to operation input; determining the contents of an event to occur at the position to which the character has moved according to the item obtained from the stored positional information and the positional relation with other items, in the event that the character moves to a position within the map where an item is positioned; and progressing with said determined event.
With this second aspect of the present invention, programs recorded on the recording medium are executed by the computer, so the game is carried out with the items indicating the position where an event is to occur being placed in response to operation input, and the contents of an event to occur at the position of the item being determined according to the position of placement. Thus, the contents of the event depend on where the player places the position for event generation.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a game apparatus comprises: a computer for controlling game progression; and a storage medium recording programs for controlling game progression of a video game with the computer, wherein the programs cause a computer to perform the following: placing items indicating positions of generation of events within a map in which characters can be moved, in response to operation input; storing positional information of the position where an item was positioned within the map each time an item is positioned; moving the character within the map in response to operation input; determining the contents of an event to occur at the position to which the character has moved according to the item obtained from the stored positional information and the positional relation with other items, in the event that the character moves to a position within the map where an item is positioned; and progressing with said determined event.
With the game apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, items indicating the position where an event is to occur are placed in response to operation input, and the contents of an event to occur at the position of the item are determined according to the position of placement. Thus, the contents of the event depend on where the player places the position for event generation.
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Fukugawa Daisuke
Ishii Koichi
Matsui Akihiko
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
Kabushiki Kaisha Square Enix
Nguyen Binh-An D.
Walberg Teresa
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